ANZ’s Stablecoin Passes Another Critical Test

The stablecoin A$DC has now been used to buy Australian tokenized carbon credits. There is, however, no information on the value of the transaction yet.

A major Australian financial institution has never minted a coin before this one. A$DC was issued by ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited) back in March.

After a pilot transaction worth $20.76 million, or 30 million Australian dollars (AUD), the carbon credits transaction is another demonstration of the asset’s use cases in the Australian economy.

AUD from the bank’s managed reserved account fully collateralizes the A$DC. The carbon credits themselves were provided by BetaCarbon. This blockchain-based carbon trading platform issues digital security assets called BCAUs. These assets represent one kilogram of carbon offsets per credit. The transactions so far have been mostly conducted through the Ethereum blockchain.

ANZ’s institutional partner, Victor Smorgon, handled the carbon credits transaction. He used A$DC to purchase Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). The digital asset manager company Zerocap cooperated by providing market-making services and liquidity. The company exchanged the A$DC received from Smorgon into USDC (USD Coin), making it possible for BetaCarbon to accept the deal.

Nigel Dobson, ANZ’s banking services portfolio lead, stated that “this is evolving from being internet-protocol based to one of ‘tokenized’ protocols. We think the underlying infrastructure — efficient, secure, public blockchains — will facilitate transactions, both ones we understand today and new ones that will be more efficient.”